Another very cold and stormy morning down in Portballintrae, as we all made our way to the Bushfoot Golf club, for the cheque presentation ceremony, as the Cary & Dunluce Masonic Charity donated their cheques to the various charities concerned. Amongst those present were Rt Wor Bro George Graham Assistant Provincial Grand Master of Antrim supported by a large number of members from The Cary & Dunluce Masonic Charity Committee.
This year, in response to the increase in the requirement for mental health services, our committee decided to provide our support to The Zachary Geddis Break the Silence Trust , a newly set up Mentoring and Counselling Service which has been set up in Unit 1 Loughan Hill Industrial Estate, on the Gateside Road in Coleraine. This organisation provides local support to the individual, family, and community, helping to prepare personalised wellbeing plans for the help of every client so that they can assist them to get the relevant professional services that best suits their needs. We were delighted to give them a cheque in the sum of One Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty Pounds to assist them in the very necessary service that they provide in the Coleraine area. Yasmin, their representative present this morning thanked us for this very generous gift and in turn presented our Charity Chairman with a commemorative plaque which reads – ” Mental Health Service – Thank You for your generous donation XXXXX – Not All Wounds are Visible “.
One of our local Lodges, number 330 Ballymoney had spent some time fund raising for the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance and had raised the magnificent sum of £ 5,000.00 ( Five Thousand Pounds ) to
support this essential part of our local Health Service. This Lodge has a strong tradition of Charitable Works in the local community and last year they presented a cheque in the sum of £ 2,127.00 ( Two Thousand One Hundred and Twenty Seven Pounds ) to Perinatal Care NI, to again support them in the essential works that they do.
Our second selected charity, this year is the Northern Ireland, Chest Heart & Stroke Charity, and as I looked around the room this morning, I could clearly see why this particular charity is an old favourite with the Masonic Brethren of Cary and Dunluce. Once again, their representative Ms Elizabeth White also received a cheque from the Cary & Dunluce committee in the sum of One Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty Pounds to assist them continue with their invaluable services within the local community. She then took the opportunity to once again thank The Cary & Dunluce Charity Committee for their ongoing support to the essential works of the Chest Heart & Stroke within our local community.
Ladies and Brethren, once again we were delighted to play our part in supporting these worthwhile charities and are grateful to all who came along to support our effort at our recent breakfast.
Robert Bashford